3 weeks ago
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The Chicago White Sox are a legitimate postseason team in 2026, and one of the biggest reasons is the production of Munetaka Murakami, who has 30 homers during his rookie season in Major League Baseball.
He signed a two-year, $34 million contract over the offseason after interest from MLB clubs was few and far between. But after his All-Star 2026 season, plenty of teams might've been kicking themselves for passing up the left-handed slugger.
After coming back from injury, he's struggled a bit, but there is still plenty of power in his bat. But looking into the future, as USA Today's Bob Nightengale put it, the White Sox have an "impossible" question to answer with Murakami about a new contract.
White Sox have an 'impossible' Munetaka Murakami contract situation to figure out
"The Chicago White Sox are interested in talking to slugger Munetaka Murakami about an extension, but it's impossible to know what he's worth," Nightengale writes.
Murakami has hit 30 homers this season and has 61 RBIs with an .832 OPS; what question should they really even have? Well, it's the inconsistency that's become a problem.
Before his injury that knocked him out for a little over a month, Murakami had 20 homers and 41 RBIs with a .938 OPS and a .240 batting average, with 80 strikeouts and 44 walks in 57 games for the White Sox.
If that was the kind of production he was having all season long, keeping him around for the long haul on a large multi-year deal would make a lot of sense.
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However, in the 50 games since returning from injury in mid-July, Murakami has been a very different player. He has 10 home runs and 20 RBIs with a .179 average and a .717 OPS, with 81 strikeouts and 37 walks.
His batting average is way down; he's striking out a bit more often, and his power numbers are also well below where they used to be.
There is no doubt that Murakami is a great power hitter and is someone the White Sox should try to lock up for the foreseeable future.
But the real issue is: how much is he worth? What hitter are the White Sox actually getting? Is it the first-half, pre-injury Murakami who was tearing it up, or is it the post-injury, second-half Murakami who has been underwhelming?
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That's why the White Sox are in a bit of an impossible situation. If they spend like he's the first-half version of himself, and Murakami is closer to his second-half production, then it would be a major overpay.
But if they don't work out a deal sooner rather than later, and he returns to his first-half form, the price tag is only going to increase significantly.
This decision for the White Sox is not going to be easy. But at the end of the day, they should try hard to keep Murakami long-term, as he's become beloved by the franchise and has been the spark this club needed to leap into postseason contention.
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